Apple Hardware Executive Says iPhone Maker Plans To Use AI For Speeding Up Custom Chip Design: 'High Potential In Getting More Design Work In Less Time'

Apple Inc. AAPL is reportedly looking to harness the power of generative artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of the custom chips that power its devices, according to senior executive Johny Srouji.

What Happened: During a speech in Belgium last month, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, Srouji, said the company is exploring generative AI to streamline chip design, calling it a major productivity opportunity, reported Reuters on Wednesday.

"Generative AI techniques have a high potential in getting more design work in less time, and it can be a huge productivity boost," Srouji said, according to a recording reviewed by the publication.

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He made the remarks while accepting an award from Imec, a prominent semiconductor R&D organization.

During his speech, Srouji highlighted that electronic design automation (EDA) firms like Cadence Design Systems CDNS and Synopsys Inc. SNPS—both racing to integrate AI—are critical to managing the complexity of Apple's chip development.

Srouji also reflected on Apple's bold move in 2020 to replace Intel Corp INTC chips in Mac computers with its own Apple Silicon. He said that it was a major takeaway from Apple’s chip development journey was the importance of making bold decisions and moving forward without hesitation.

"There was no backup plan, no split-the-lineup plan, so we went all in," he said. "Including a monumental software effort."

Why It's Important: Last month, it was reported that Apple is developing new chips to power upcoming smart glasses, AI servers and future Macs. Apple aims to launch it by 2026–2027.

Meanwhile, the M5 chip, built on the advanced 3nm N3P architecture, has reportedly entered mass production and is expected to enhance the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and Vision Pro—especially with upcoming Apple Intelligence features.

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